


Rift

by trollfishprince



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Original, Bisexuality is a thing, Chaos Theory, DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO THE AUTHOR IS, Dreams and Nightmares, Five Years Later, Gen, I like diverse characters sorry not sorry, Multiverse, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Quantum Theory - Freeform, Reverse Pines, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Takes place in main universe, Two-Spirit, Voodoo, Weekly Updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-14 13:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4565982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trollfishprince/pseuds/trollfishprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ON POSSIBLY INDEFINITE HIATUS~! I adore this concept and have so much more to tell but honestly I'd have to rewrite a large portion of the fic because I've just become a better writer since I last updated.</p><p>Five years after the events of the original show, Dipper and Mabel come back to Gravity Falls for what may be their last summer. It never occurred to them that maybe there were other universes much like their own, yet eerily different in some ways. Meanwhile, Gideon and other enemies return to cause trouble while friends old and new get involved in a battle that could potentially destroy each universe. Three universes, three sets of Pines kids, and worst of all three Bill Ciphers. </p><p>"Ever heard of Chaos Theory, kid? It can change a lot of things."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hello, Oregon!

A dream demon sobbed to himself in the Dreamscape. The light blue glow he emitted was somber and pitiful, he was sure that if anyone else could see him they would laugh. Especially those twins. Especially them.

 

He had been stuck with those twins for years. They had been horribly cruel to him. They took his power and had enhanced their natural abilities with it. Now he was a laughing stock. A coward. He was useless.

 

So he floated through the Dreamscape. Sobbing and wallowing in his misery, knowing that those twins would call on him again very soon and take what little power he still had. If only he could escape from them. If only he could run away...

 

Wait... Maybe he could run away! He thought deeply about his situation and examined what dimensions were close enough that he could grab a hold of them and cross over. He would probably be powerless for a little while after jumping dimensions, but he could do it. And so he decided to leave.

 

The twins felt as he jumped dimensions, they had known that he would eventually try something like this.

 

"Should we go after him?" The brother asked the sister.

 

"Not yet." She chuckled, "Let him run for a while. Let's give him one small scrap of false hope. We'll get him back soon enough."

  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~

 

It had never really occurred to Dipper that maybe there were other dimensions until after Ford came through. In fact, it wouldn't even come up again until five summers later. They hadn't been back to Gravity Falls for three years at that point, since they had entered high school. Both of the Pines had changed a lot since back then. Mabel's hair was shorter and she had gotten wrapped up in all sorts of school activities and Dipper had slowly become even less social than before, but had learned the importance of bathing.

 

The drive up was different too. Mabel and Dipper drove up in their old Volkswagen that their parents had gotten them for their sixteenth birthday. They would take turns driving every few hours, which was nice. Mabel would chat with Dipper when she was driving and text her friends back home when she wasn't. Dipper would listen to the radio, tuning it to strange religious stations when he could or he'd sit in silence, simply thinking about all sorts of paranormal things. That was what never changed, well, that and Mabel's affinity for sweaters.

 

As they crossed the state border into Oregon, Mabel stuck her head out the window and yelled, "Hello, Oregon!"

 

"Mabel, get back in here!" Dipper yanked her by her sweater so she was back in her seat. "Jeez, do you have any sense of self preservation?"

 

"Lay off, Dip!" She nudged him affectionately and rolled up the window, “I was just playing!”

 

Dipper sighed and shook his head, returning his focus to the road.

 

After a few moments, Mabel asked,  "Do you think this will be the last summer we spend here?"

 

"Probably," Dipper replied, staring at the road, "Dad wanted to go road tripping with us next summer."

 

"Right." Mabel looked out the window, "Do you ever think everything that happened back then was a dream?"

 

Dipper frowned, "Not at all. That was all very real--we almost died multiple times."

 

"But it was all so strange!"

 

"That doesn't mean it was any less than real."

 

Mabel sighed, "Dipper, it only ever happens in Gravity Falls. I think after this summer we should just let it all go."

 

"That's not going to happen."

  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~

 

When the twins finally pulled into Gravity Falls they had been driving for nearly two days, and despite it being 5pm, they were both exhausted. They decided to pull into Greasy's Diner and stop for dinner before heading to the Mystery Shack.

 

It looked just like it always had. The place was in need of some repairs, the tables weren't the cleanest, and the entire place seemed to be covered in a thin layer of grease. Just like the twins however, at least one thing had changed. Lazy Susan was visibly absent, in her place was a pink haired waiter on rollerskates. He wore an off-white apron with a small silver name tag that said "Tristan" on his breast pocket. He looked up and rolled over to the duo, "For two?"

 

"Yeah, just us." Dipper said.

 

Mabel had the hots for him already, "Yep! Just us two. Just here with my little bro!" She giggled.

 

Tristan smiled politely at both of them and showed them to a small booth. Dipper looked at Tristan as he left, he could tell something was familiar about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

 

"Doesn't he look familiar?" Dipper asked before looking at his menu.

 

"The waiter? Kind of, sort of, but only a little." Mabel leaned out of the booth to check out Tristan's butt as he skated into the kitchen.

 

Dipper sighed at Mabel's action, "You're hopeless."

 

Mabel looked at him and at her menu, "So are you."

 

Tristan rolled back over to them, "Do you need a little more time?"

 

Dipper nodded, "Yeah, give us another minute."

 

"Alright, can I get you any drinks to start?"

 

"Oh, yes!" Mabel nearly squeaked, "A chocolate milkshake please!"

 

Tristan smiled and nodded before looking at Dipper, "And you, sir?"

 

"A root beer."

 

Tristan went back to the kitchen, whipping out his phone as he did so.

 

"He's so dreamy." Mabel cooed, "Did you see the way he smiled at me?"

 

"Mabel, he's a waiter. They're supposed to be nice to you."

 

"But he's extra nice, Dipper!" Mabel squeaked, "Extra nice and extra dreamy."

 

Dipper groaned and put down his menu as Tristan rolled back with their drinks.

 

"Milkshake for you and a root beer," he smiled, placing both drinks down, "Are you ready to order?"

 

"Yeah," Dipper sighed, adjusting himself in his seat, "I'll have a cheeseburger. Medium with American cheese."

 

Tristan smiled and looked to Mabel, "And you?"

 

Mabel blinked and looked down flustered, "You wouldn't mind making pancakes this late, would you?"

 

Tristan chuckled, "I'll see what I can do." He then took their menus and rolled back into the kitchen.

 

Mabel nearly slammed her fists on the table, "Dipper, did you see that?"

 

"See what? Mabel, what are you talking about?"

 

"He totally smiled at both of us." Mabel winked.

 

"For the love of...." Dipper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Mabel, I don't need a summer romance."

 

Mabel let out a very exasperated sigh, "I just want to see you happy."

 

"I'm perfectly happy right now," Dipper took a sip of his root beer, "A summer romance is the last thing I need.”

 

"You want an adventure."

 

"Exactly."

 

Mabel smirked, “Romance can be an adventure‒”

 

“Mabel, please!”

 

After continued argument between the siblings, Tristan came back holding a very lovely cheeseburger and presented it to Dipper, "I'll bring the pancakes out really soon."

 

"YES!"

 

Dipper nodded at Tristan, "Thank you."

 

"No problem." Tristan rolled right back out as fast as he had come in.

 

"Well, this is probably our last chance to have a true paranormal summer adventure, so we might as well have a lot of fun." Mabel sipped at her milkshake eagerly.

 

"I just hope we don't run into Bill," Dipper gulped before biting down on his cheeseburger.

 

Mabel nodded slowly. "Yeah."

 

Tristan came back out with the pancakes and placed them in front of Mabel, "I hope you enjoy them."

 

"Oh yes, thank you so much!" Mabel squealed.

 

The rest of dinner was much like it had been. Small talk, Tristan checked on the twins every once in a while, things like that. Before the twins left, a very familiar couple came in. They were in their twenties, both dressed like anyone else, but in more muted and darker colors. The girl had dark pink hair with a lighter streak while the guy had black hair that hung over his face just a little bit. Mabel looked at them more closely and realized that the duo was none other than Tambry and Robbie.

 

Tristan rolled over to them, "Hey sis. Robbie," Tristan said Robbie's name with slight distaste, "Just drop in to say hi or do you want a table?"

 

"Table for two, little brother." Tambry said, putting her head on Robbie's shoulder.

 

Mabel patted Dipper's arm excitedly, "Dipper! It's Tambry and Robbie!"

 

Dipper looked up, "Really?" He turned his head to look at the pair.

 

"After all these years, they're still together." Mabel gave herself a pat on the back.

 

Robbie glanced and could just barely recognize Dipper, "Holy crap, Dipper is that you?"

 

Dipper gave a small wave, "Hey, long time no see."

 

Tambry looked over at the twins and smiled politely, "Wow, the Mystery Twins. Didn't think I'd ever see you two again."

 

"Yeah, it's funny how things turn out." Mabel chirped.

 

Dipper piped up, not entirely comfortable with the idea of chatting with the couple, "Mabel, we should probably head out, we need to get to the Mystery Shack eventually."

 

"Oh yeah! Well, we'll see you all around!" Mabel smiled, winking at the young waiter.

 

Tristan blushed as the twins left. Tambry rolled her eyes, "The Mystery Twins? Really Tris?"

 

"I can't be the only one who thinks they're cool!" Tristan defended.

 

Robbie groaned, "You kind of are. Now, can we eat or what?"

  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~

 

The dream demon suddenly appeared in a strange and new place. It was a similar dimension to his Dreamscape, a dimension that was attached directly to another, allowing travel to occur freely between the two dimensions with minimal magic. This place was different in that it was stark and monochromatic compared to the vast nothingness that appeared to consume the Dreamscape. The only color that leaked into this world was the soft baby blue light that radiated off the tiny dream demon.

 

His single tear-filled eye scanned the eerie landscape for any signs of accompaniment but didn't see anything or anyone, though he did feel presences in the area. That meant he either could not see the other entities or the feeling was from creatures that lurked within the adjoining dimension. After a few moments of floating around in this abandoned place, he worked up the courage to call out to those who called this place home.

 

"Hello?" He floated through the stone-like trees, "Excuse me? Is anyone here?"

 

A ghostly wind blew through the trees, shifting dead leaves that rested on the forest floor. The demon shrank for a moment and closed his eye, for he feared the twins had come for him, but when he looked up he saw a light.

 

The small white light of a lantern shown through the trees, beckoning him to come toward it. He looked behind him and then forward again, wiping a tear from his eye before proceeding.

 

"Do you know where I am?" He asked as he approached, "I-I just jumped universes and I'm not quite sure where I ended up..."

 

A whisper penetrated the trees, appearing to cause a light wind to blow, "Bill Cipher, is that you?"

 

The dream demon stopped in his path, realizing that this could be the twins. Should he say who he really was? Bill Cipher. A pathetic and pitiful dream demon?

 

"You seem so different since last we spoke," the whisper faded in, leaves winding around the dream demon as a shadow escaped the trees.

 

The creature was cloaked in a silhouetted shadow, branches sticking out of its head and arms, and roots sinking into the ground from its legs. It held a red candle lantern in it's hand and it's blue eyes shined just as bright as it's light. "Now tell me, are you the Bill Cipher that I know, or a different one?"

 

The dream demon gulped, taking off his hat and shrinking even more, his blue light turning a light purple with fear, "I-I can assure you th-that I've never seen you before. I just came to this universe in fact, and I'm not exactly sure w-where I am... So, where am I exactly?"

 

"You're in the Mindscape," the shadow examined him, circling around Bill, and narrowing its eyes for a moment as it did so. "It's a dimension connected to the mortal realm."

 

"Ah," Bill changed back to a light blue color, "Do things often travel from other dimensions to here?" He put his tiny top hat back on top of his form.

 

"No," the shadow replied, "Most don't travel here anymore. I was surprised to see you come back so soon."

 

"I'm not exactly your Bill Cipher--"

 

"Either way, I didn't expect to see you again." The wind stopped almost immediately, all of the leaves falling to the ground. The shadow looked up and shushed Bill before he could speak anymore. "Something changed."

 

"Changed? What changed?" he flashed purple again, getting close to the shadow's lantern as if to try and hide behind it.

 

The shadow pulled its lantern away from the demon, hissing loudly, "Don't touch my lantern."

 

"S-Sorry." Bill quivered, "But what changed?"

 

The shadow hummed in thought for a moment, "I'm not quite sure, but something is definitely different. There's this flickering...."

 

Bill looked up at the creature, "A flickering?"

 

"The natural energy of the town is changing slightly. I think it's because you entered the Mindscape but--oh no, wait a second," the shadow lifted its free hand and placed it next to where an ear might be located and tilted its head slightly upward as it did so, "How did you get here exactly, Bill?"

 

"I simply used most of my remaining magic and jumped universes," Bill's shade of purple became brighter as he became more nervous, "Did I do something wrong? Did I let someone else through?"

 

The shadow looked back down at Bill, "I don't know exactly what you caused Bill Cipher but you definitely did something that will cause me a lot of trouble."

 

"How can I cause you trouble? I just came here! I don't even know who you are."

 

"Call me whatever you like, Cipher. Monster, Beast, the Boogeyman, it's all the same to me." The shadow looked around, "We should leave this place, something might be coming."

 

Bill gulped, "Lead the way, Beast."

 

The shadow led the demon into the trees, and as the Mindscape grew dark, the only light that guided them was that of the lantern.

  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~

 

Dipper's dreams that night consisted of faint whispers at first. What he saw didn't seem to relate to the whispers at all though, which was a bit perplexing. A young brunette boy in green overalls was wandering aimlessly through the forest, apparently looking for something. When the young boy called out, Dipper only heard the faint whisper.

 

"It's coming."

 

"Who's coming?" A slightly fearful voice whispered.

 

A frog croaked, "A demon."

 

The boy called out again, "The Pines."

 

The fearful whisper quivered, "The twins."

 

The frog croaked, "The broken pine."

 

The child called, "The Beast."

 

The fearful whisper cried, "They're coming for me!"

 

The frog croaked, "The Pines?"

 

The child stopped and glared at the frog, "No, the twins!"

 

The wind blew through the trees and everything went black and white, "Something else is here."

 

"Oh no," The fearful whisper squeaked.

 

The boy tripped and turned into a white light, "Who else is coming?"

 

The wind made a small dust devil of leaves, "The Devil."

 

The fearful whisper called again, "He's not a devil."

 

The frog croaked, "He might as well be."

 

The light whispered, "But I know there's more."

 

A crack suddenly appeared in the dream, **"͟Bųt̶ d͏o͜e̵s ̢a͏n͏y̢th̀ing e̵ls҉e̸ re͢ally̕ ͡matt̕er w̷h͠én I̧'m̡ ̢her͘e̢?͞"**

 

"Everything matters whether you're here or not!" The frog replied.

 

Suddenly light from the crack flooded the dream, everything faded to black as the whispers became warped.

 

"Dipper and Mabel--"

 

"The twins, they're coming--"

 

"Wake up."

 

"You've been watching over them?"

 

"Yes."

 

"--shouldn't be able to--"

 

“Wake up.”

 

"What's tha--"

 

The only two distinct voices, the wind and the fearful whisper, both became like the other voices. Distant and incoherent. The constant chatter quickly rose in a crescendo and suddenly paused for mere moments before one voice completely consumed the dream.

 

**̴̳͚̞͍̦͈ͅ"̶̻̥̗̗ͅW͉̝̝A̱KE͕̤̫͉̝͚ ͏̗͔͓Ù̙͇͎P͎͇͎,̥̺̞͖ P̡̮͉͚̙͕̝̱I̭̠̪̗̱̤̻͢N͈̜̙̰̩̰E͙̠̲̜̰T̟R̨̟̯E̥̱̭̖̞̦͍E̖̼͈͍̕."͔**

  


Dipper woke with a start, his entire body dripping with sweat. He clutched at his chest, his heart was pounding. He tried breathing in and out, gasping for air mostly. He lay back down, trying to calm his breathing to an even pace and he hugged his pillow tightly, trying to ride out the sudden panic attack. It was a dream, it was only a dream. Bill wasn't coming back. He was gone. He had to be gone. He had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter done. Awesome. Chapters will be posted weekly every Thursday or Friday unless otherwise noted. I've included a character from Over the Garden Wall if it wasn't super obvious, but you won't have needed to see it in order to read this since I'm doing major canon divergence. I'll tag this with Over the Garden Wall depending on whether he becomes a super major character. Well, thanks for reading and please comment with your thoughts whether they are good or bad, I really need the motivation in order to keep writing this. I have two additional chapters written that I'm editing, along with a special 10.000+ word chapter that I'm still writing.
> 
> Thanks to mad_penn and Ilananight for being my beta readers. See y'all soon!


	2. Gleeful

_Eight hours earlier, 6:15pm..._

"Can you hurry it up? If Mr. Pines sees you in here I'm going to get fired." Wren glared at Gideon, annoyed that he had to come into the Mystery Shack in the first place.

"I'll be out in a minute, Catherine, I'm just looking for something important!" Gideon was still quite short, even at the age of fifteen. His newly sprouted acne had joined his freckles, making his usually pale face look like a pepperoni pizza.

Wren was his complete opposite, she had long black hair and very clear tan skin. She was also quite tall for a sixteen year old. There were other differences to, but two facts had kept their friendship strong since she had moved here two years ago. Both of them knew about the oddities of Gravity Falls and both of them were odd.

Gideon had been a psychic thanks to his magic amulet and Wren had two spirits in her body.

"I swear if this is another plot to take over the Mystery Shack--"

"This has to do with Stanford and only him!"

"He's my boss and he pays me. And despite my pay being shit, I'm not okay with you messing around with him. He's an old man."

"He's my arch nemesis!"

"You've hated Stan for a third of your life. Dude, it's time to get a hobby or to find another magic amulet." Wren checked her watch, “Look Gideon, Stan is going to come back any minute, just tell me what you want and I’ll get it.”

“I need some way to mess with Stan! I can’t stand losing to him!” he flipped through a collection of books that were in a display, occasionally opening one up and look at the pages.

Wren groaned, “Gideon‒”

“Please Catherine, this’ll be the last time, I promise.” Gideon crossed his fingers behind his back, pretending his smirk was just a cute smile.

Wren wasn’t fazed but decided to give up, “Fine, but on two conditions.”

Gideon rolled his eyes, “Name your price.”

“One, I want a hundred bucks,” Wren smirked and held out her hand, “Pay up short stuff.”

Gideon glared at her and pulled out his wallet, carefully counting his money before giving her a hundred dollars. “What’s the second demand?”

“Stop referring to us as Catherine. There is Cath and Wren. We are two different people and we would like to be treated as such. And make sure you get Cath’s pronouns right, he hates it when you call him a ‘she’.” When they first came to Gravity Falls Cath and Wren were the same person, or at least appeared to be. Catherine had only become Cath and Wren a year and a half ago when their personalities diverged drastically. Cath was calm and cool while Wren was headstrong and feisty.

“Fine, fine. Whatever, I never understood this whole two-spirit thing anyway.” Gideon grumbled.

“I’m two-spirit, Cath is a boy, get it right or get out.” She could tell Stan was going to come back any minute. Gideon had to go fast.

“Just tell me how I can mess with Stan!”

“I can’t show you now, but come to my house at midnight.” Wren looked around and leaned over, “Bring a potato sack.”

Gideon looked at her confused, “With or without potatoes?”

“Without potatoes! Now get out! Shoo!” Wren shoved Gideon roughly from behind the counter.

“Alright, I’m going! See you later, Cath‒I mean, Wren!” he rushed out without another word and ran into the forest.

Wren rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Dork.”

A few minutes later, before Stan’s return to the shack, two teens, roughly a year or two older than Wren entered. The brunette girl wore a garish homemade sweater with shorts and a pair of pink and white striped leggings. Her hair was pretty short, slightly longer than a pixie cut, but she wore a pink headband anyway. The guy was just about her height, he wore a lightweight black vest that had a silver lining, along with a dark red t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. His brown hair was partially covered by an old hat with a blue pinetree on it, the same as what they sold here at the Mystery Shack.

Wren groaned internally before speaking dryly, “Welcome to the Mystery Shack. Would you like a tour?”

The guy looked at her and smiled sheepishly from across the shack, “No thanks. Is, uh, Stan Pines here?”

“Afraid not,” she wasn’t going to tell them where he was, just in case they weren’t just teenagers. She still had to try and be friendly unfortunately, as Stan had told her to try and squeeze every customer for their last penny. “I see you have one of our hats. Are you a long time fan of the shack?”

The sister giggled, “Hardly. We used to work here every summer. Stan is our grunkle!”

“Grun-what?”

The boy blushed with embarrassment, “Grunkle, short for great-uncle. Mabel came up with it not me.”

“Uh-huh,” Wren checked out the brother nonchalantly, she could probably beat him up if she had to, “So you two are relatives to old Stan, huh?”

“Yep!” squeaked Mabel, “We haven’t seen him in three years.”

Wren checked out Mabel as well, “A lot can change in three years.”  
  
“A lot has,” the brother replied, “Does a girl named Wendy still work here?”

“Wendy Corduroy?” Wren asked, “Nah, she left town about a year ago. She’s up in Canada working in the lumber industry while going to college, I think.” Wendy had helped Stan pick Wren and Cath when he was interviewing people for her old position at the Mystery Shack.

“Oh,” the brother looked down with disappointment, “Things really have changed.”

“Ah come on, Dipper!” Mabel smiled, “We can still go on adventures just like old times.” She obviously was trying to cheer him up.

“Yeah, I guess.” Dipper sighed.

The door swung open and a slightly older Stan Pines entered the Mystery Shack. In the years since the twins were twelve, Stan had attempted to lose some weight and was mildly successful, but he was a tad less mobile than before. His brother, the real Stanford Pines, had been accepted to be a professor at his college dream school, West Coast Tech, and had decided to give Stanley the Mystery Shack once again on the condition that he could have his name back and that Stan would have to live as Stanley. Otherwise, nothing had changed.

“Oh, kids, you’re here!” Stan smiled and opened up his arms to give the twins a big hug.

Mabel immediately turned around and ran over, “GRUNKLE STAN!” She nearly leapt into his arms and hugged him as tightly as she could.

Dipper ran over to, though he wasn’t nearly as fast as Mabel, “Grunkle Stan! I missed you!”

“I’d hope so,” Stan laughed, attempting to lift the twins, but his back gave out and he ended up leaning on them, “You two certainly got bigger since I last saw you.” Dipper helped  Stan stand up straight with a small laugh.

“It’s been too long!” Mabel whined, finally releasing Stan, “We practically grew up without you.”

“I’ll say,” Stan checked his height against both of them, “You’re both almost taller than me.”

“And my height finally caught up with Mabel’s,” Dipper grinned proudly.

“Just barely!” Mabel nudged him teasingly and giggled.

Wren checked the time, it was 6:30 at that point, “I think I’m going to head out, Mr. Pines. I’ll let you catch up.”

Stan looked at Wren confused, “Wren, your shift ended at 6, why are you still here?”

“I-uh, wanted to make sure stuff was clean for the morning.”

Stan frowned, “I’m not paying you overtime.”

“I know, I know,” Wren put on her jacket and shoved something from the trash into her pocket, “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“See ya!” Mabel waved.

Dipper nodded, “See you around.”

“Yeah, sure.” Wren left the shack quietly and began her walk home.

“So, Wendy moved to Canada?”

Stan nodded, “Yeah, most of the teenagers you kids hung out with moved away actually. I think the only one who still lives here is Robbie.”

“Candy and Grenda are still around too, but I think Grenda is spending the summer in Austria with Marius.” Mabel sighed, “At least Candy and I can still cause trouble!”

Dipper raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Wait, Grunkle Stan, we saw Tambry and Robbie at Greasy’s Diner. Is Tambry home for the summer or something?”

Stan shrugged, “I don’t really keep up with individual gossip, especially after Susan retired to Florida. The diner just isn’t the same without ol’ Susan there.”

Mabel giggled, “The new waiter is pretty cute though.”

“If you like pink hair and rollerskates,” Stan grumbled, “Anyway, enough about Gravity Falls. What have you kids been up to?”

Dipper started to say, “Not much to be honest‒”

Mabel interrupted him, “SO MUCH!”

**  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~  
**

 

Gideon’s dad had driven him to Cath and Wren’s house, which was almost deeper in the woods than the Mystery Shack. It was on the opposite side of town and the air was filled with mist, along with a mysterious mystical essence.

The house itself was an old A-frame style home with a small stream running in front of it. There were carvings all over the building and the deck that had origins in many cultures, from the Anasazi to the Rroma and to cultures that were more ancient and forgotten. Gideon could feel the aura that existed around this house, it was so palpable that even someone who wasn’t educated in the ways of magic would be able to feel it.

As he hopped across the stream the porchlight turned on and Cath exited the house. Unlike Wren, Cath was more of a night owl and rarely appeared before 9pm‒though he did work at the Mystery Shack from 1-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Cath wore a loose hoodie along with a pair of acid washed jeans that were at least three sizes too large for his figure, his black hair was tied back in a ponytail as usual, since Wren wouldn’t let him cut their hair. He merely glanced down at Gideon, speaking with a note of disdain, “I hope you’re here for whatever Wren promised you.”

“Of course,” Gideon responded, “It’s not like she invites me over anymore.”

“Well, follow me,” Cath beckoned Gideon to climb the steps and come into the house, “Dad and Mom are visiting some of our family on the reservation so make as much noise as you want, or whatever.”

Gideon climbed the steps timidly and opened the door, the scent of rose candle wafting through the air, “Roses?”

“Wren likes them,” Cath mentioned, closing the door before any mosquitoes could get in, “So, down to business, I suppose.” He motioned with his head toward the basement door, “You brought the potato sack right?”

Gideon nodded, following Cath, “Yeah, it’s in my coat pocket.” He pulled out the neatly folded bag and gave it to Cath as they descended the stairs.

The basement was cluttered with towers of books and strange artifacts from around the world. The entire place was dimly lit with glowing blue crystals and the occasional candle. This was what the Mystery Shack should have looked like on the inside, not the gimmicky tourist trap that it really was.

Cath stretched and yawned, “I have to wake up Wren so she can help you, in the mean time I have some snacks on the tree stump table if you want any.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Gideon mumbled as the older boy left. He moved through the towers of artifacts and books and found the tree stump table, which had a couple of cookie tins on it, along with a number of books, all of which were open to various points. Gideon chuckled gleefully and opened the cookie tins, sampling three cookies from each tin. As Gideon ate, he glanced at the various books, curious as to the material they were on.

The books were all in languages or codes that Gideon didn’t know, but they were opened to pages about dolls it seemed. The few drawings were either extremely detailed pencil drawings or very rough images done with charcoal or some other material. Most of the books were probably older than the house.

Which one of them was into doll making though? Wren was way too “hardcore” to make dolls but Gideon doubted that Cath could sew or even put time into anything creative. Maybe it was from one of their parents?

Wren peaked her head out from behind one of the towers, her hair hanging loose and seemed to be more unkempt than usual, “Like my books?” She smirked and approached the table.

“I’m not into dolls anymore,” Gideon defended, “And I’m surprised that you would be either.”

Wren chuckled, “I’m not, this is for you.” She pulled out a lock of gray hair from her pocket and placed it on one of the books, “This is how you’re going to mess with Stan.”

Gideon connected the dots in his head and looked at Wren in surprise, “We’re going to make a voodoo doll?” Voodoo dolls required serious amounts of magic, not to mention that the user could actually kill people with them.

“Well, we’re going to make a preschool-friendly voodoo doll. I don’t trust you enough to give you the power over Stan’s life.” Wren took the burlap bag out of Cath’s hoodie pocket, since she had kept his clothes on, and placed it on the table with the lock of hair. “It was pretty easy to get Stan’s hair, I just had to vacuum the carpet.”

“Sounds disgusting.”

Wren grimaced, “It was, trust me.”

After a few moments some of her words echoed through Gideon’s mind, “What exactly do you mean by preschool-friendly voodoo?”

“I mean you won’t be able to kill him, or injure him badly,” Wren sat down on a pile of books near the table, “He’s still my boss. And besides, even if I was all for you killing Stan or whatever, I wouldn’t let you do it right now.”

Gideon frowned, “Hypothetically, why not now?”

“His grandniece and grandnephew are in town for the summer. I met them a bit after you left. If I have a problem with someone, I always leave their family out of‒”

“The Pines twins are here? In Gravity Falls? They’re here, right now?” Gideon’s expression turned from curiosity to full rage faster than a bullet train.

Wren held up her arms defensively, “Hey man, don’t shoot the messenger! What’s your problem with them? They seem like nice people.”

Gideon put his fist to his chest, clutching at where his lucky bolo tie used to be, “They destroyed my amulet and left me powerless!”

Wren blinked, “Then what’s your problem with Stan? I always assumed he destroyed the amulet?”

Gideon looked at the books, trying to quell his rage, “My issues with Stan don’t matter, I just want revenge on him and the rest of the Pines.”

For the second time since she met Gideon, she felt a wave of sympathy fall over her. The first time was when she first met him two years ago, when he was just as friendless as she was. Gideon had been genuinely hurt by the Pines family. Wren put herself into Gideon’s shoes, thinking about what it would be like to go from television psychic child to a washed up, powerless, pizza-faced teen. If Wren lost her magic alone she would be more than heartbroken. Despite Gideon being a complete spoiled brat, she felt bad for him.

Wren sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, “I know I’m going to regret this, but do you want me to make voodoo dolls for Mabel and Dipper as well?”

Gideon nodded, “I’ll even pay you extra if that’s what it’ll take.”

Wren hadn’t even considered getting more money out of the deal, so considering the first voodoo doll cost him a hundred, she could make two hundred more dollars easily. She smirked, “Bring me two more bags and two hundred dollars, you got yourself a deal.”

Gideon smiled, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

**  
~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~  
  
**

Elsewhere, a certain gleeful pair of twins gazed into the Mindscape from their dimension. The sister couldn’t see into the dimension herself, so the brother was being both of their eyes. She leaned toward him intently, hoping that they would find the pitiful demon they were looking for.

The brother could see a beastly shadow and for a moment he even saw the tiny demon before the shadow masked it. Was that creature trying to protect the demon? Why would anyone protect something as pitiful as Bill Cipher? “This shadow is trying to hide Bill from me. He doesn’t want me to see he’s there.”

“Where is there?” she asked curiously.

His eyes were still closed, “It’s another dimension. It’s kind of like the Dreamscape in our reality. It’s connected to another mortal dimension just like ours.”

“Interesting,” she muttered, “Do you think we could make it over there?”

The brother opened his eyes and looked at her with sympathy, “Mabel, I don’t know…”

The sister became enraged, “It’s either yes or no, Dipper! We need to get him back! I don’t want to go back to being a dumb child psychic!”

**"I cou͡ld̶ ͡h͟e̶lp̨ w̷it́h t̀hat̸!͝,"** a loud and familiar voice echoed through the sibling’s heads.

The twins stood up and looked around as their world morphed into the Dreamscape. The two floating in a blank nothingness.

“What’s going on?” Mabel asked.

“I-I don’t know!” Dipper replied, reaching out and grabbing her to keep her from floating away.

A glowing yellow triangle appeared in the Dreamscape and suddenly turned into an all too familiar dream demon, **"I̡'d͞ ̕like ̶tó m͞a̢ke͘ ҉a ̧d́e͞a̶l͡ ̀w͠ith ̷y̛o͟u̶ t̀wo. Y̧o̶u get your ̡d͘emòn, a͘nd̸ I͟ g͞e͜ţ ͘swee̵t̕,̴ ͝s͢ẁe̕e͝t ̨r͜e̴ve͏ng̕e! S̀òúnd g͠ood̀?̧"**

**  
**The twins looked at each other and instantly knew their answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness, I got kudos! Hello everyone! Don't be shy, feel free to comment :D Sorry for posting this on Friday instead of Thursday, that's why I set two days for posting. Thanks to mad_penn and ilananight for being my beta readers. Also, major thanks to Maria Albert from fanfiction.net for beta reading this chapter and the next one! She pointed out a major flaw that I was able to fix. Well, see y'all next Thursday or Friday.
> 
> P.S. Also, I feel like I should add this, don't worry if I don't post an update on one of those days. I've more than likely already written the chapter, it means that I either need to study for a test or write an essay since I'm in college OR editing is taking a bit longer than I expected. If you want to keep up with me and have questions about the fic, please message me on tumblr: trollfishprince.tumblr.com


	3. Will

The Gleeful twins never really thought that there were multiple Bill Ciphers. They had only known their universe’s Bill, who was easily tricked by them when they were twelve years old. He wasn’t fearsome, much less someone who needed to be feared. He was pitiful and a joke, unlike this Bill Cipher. This version was something else entirely.

Bill held out his hand to the twins, blue fire igniting as they reached out to him, but for a moment Dipper wavered. What if this was a trick? A way for Bill to get their powers.

Mabel looked at him and glared, “Dipper…”

“What’s in it for you?” Dipper asked the demon, “We’ll be getting our Bill back, but you’ll be getting revenge. Who are you getting revenge on?”

Bill laughed, **“Ju͢st́͜ w̵ha͢t̴̷̴ ̡Í͘ ̷ex͜p̡̢̀e̶̴͝ct́e̵d͠ ̧f͟r͠o҉̧m̵ y̸o̵u,̵̡ ͘P̧i̴͘n̸͢e̸̴͠tr͜͞èȩ̡̕!͜”** He stopped and thought for a moment, **“Ẁ̴̴ai̸t͟,҉ ̵y̨̛ơų ͡ḑ̴o̷ņ͜͢'̨t ͞s͢è͝eḿ͞ ̛̕t̵̕ơ ́͘be̢͠ ͢͏m̡̛u҉̵c̶͢͡h҉́ ̸̕lí͟k̶͠e͟͠҉ ͜o͘͡l̵͡͏d ̢͝P͡i͟n͟et̛͞ŕ́ę͘e͘͝.”** He snapped his fingers abruptly, **“A͏h̢à!̀ ̶I ͡ǵo̕t͝ i̶t̡, ͡I͏'̵ll ͡cal͠l̷ ͘yo͡u͟ U͏r̸s̡á!̷”**

“Just tell me why you’re helping us!”

Bill’s eye widened for a brief moment before he burst into laughter, **“A͢h͡ ̀kid ̸you͜'re ͞hil̢a̧rio͢us͠! Y̵óu h͢oneśţly t̶hi͘nk͡ I̡'m̀ help̢i͞n̢g ̀y̴ou̷?̧ It's͜ ͡c̨al̀l͝ed a͞ d҉e͝al!̴ ͏Į'͠ll ́he͡l͡p̴ yo̷u ҉i̢n҉ e̢x̕c͘h͜a͟n̡ge̷ ̧for ͝y͞o͟u ̕he͡lpi͏n҉g m̨e. ̸Yơu'́l̴l̵ get͜ y҉o̷u͜r͜ dem̡ǫn ̧an͝ḑ I̢'ll̢ g̨e̸t my̴ ͏re̵venge͞ ͏on yo͡u t̸wo from tha̧t̡ ͝rea̢li̢t̵y̴.”**

Mabel pulled herself away from Bill before her hand could touch his, “There are other versions of us?”

**“O͘f̴ ̡co̡u̷rse ̴t͝h̶er̢e҉ a̧r̶e ͏F́a͏l̷li͏n̴g͢ ̀Sta͢r̵! Anywa̴y, ̴t͟here͞ ar͠e҉ ͢a̵n͢ i̢n̸f̧ini͢t̨e͝ nu͜m͟b̷er̕ ͏of̵ dimen̸sions ̛i̧n ̛t͢h҉e m͏ul̛ti̛v͜er͜se!̶ ͝Y̴oư ͢dơn͠'͟t t͡h͏in̶k̴ ̴t͝hąt҉ ̨not ̶a ̵si͞n͞g̶le̸ ̸on͡e̕ ̛of̢ thèm h̸as an͜o̷th̴er͟ ̢v̛e͢r͟sio̧n ̶óf y̡o͞u tw̢o҉,͜ ͟do͏ yo̴u?̸”** Bill waved his hands, **“En͢o̡u͏g̢h ͢w͘įth th̡e mea͢ņin̡g̀l̛e͘s̨s ̶chit̡ch̷ąţ!͢ D̡o ̵w͝e have a ̡d͞eąl ͢oŗ ͞n͞ot͏?”**

Mabel looked at Dipper for some guidance on the matter, but he shook his head, “I don’t know, Mabel.”

“Dipper this is our one chance to get him back,” Mabel took his hands in hers, “We can’t jump to other dimensions like demons can but this version of him can help us. And all we have to do is help him…”

Dipper opened his mouth but then closed it again, closing his eyes for a brief moment and looking back at his dear sister. “If this is what you want, I can’t stop you.”

Mabel smiled and looked back at Bill, holding out her hand, “We have a deal.”

Bill took her hand and then Dipper’s hand, shaking both of them as the blue flames ignited around their palms, **“E͜͢x҉c̶̶̀ȩ͜l͘͡l̕e͏n͏͏͢t͘͝.͠͏”**

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

Dipper woke up abruptly again. In the single week since he had been back in Gravity Falls he had barely gotten any sleep. He grunted and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Damn it.” It’s not like he knew what had actually woken him up was different from the past few nights. This time it wasn’t a nightmare that had forced him awake, but a concerned shadow.

The shadow gazed at him from the Mindscape. Dipper had been haunted by nightmares from the evil Bill Cipher for days, and tonight was going to be just like those, but the creature thought that the lad had already been tormented enough. He had reached out, to try and quell the nightmares and calm his mind but had mistakenly woken him up.

“Why does this keep happening?” Dipper asked a loud, sitting at his desk and pulling out one of the three journals from the bookshelf next to it. He turned on the desk lamp and started flipping through the pages, rubbing his eyes and brimming with determination.

The shadow walked over to the desk and stood next to Dipper, looking at him as he searched the pages. “You won’t find what you’re looking for in there.”

Dipper groaned, not hearing the shadow, throwing his head back in frustration, “Goddamnit.”

The shadow glanced down at the floor and then back up at Dipper. “You need to sleep‒”

“I wish I could sleep.”

The shadow looked down at his lantern, “It’s almost like he can hear me.” He smiled sadly to himself, though the shadowy cloak hid it.

The lantern flickered and so did the desk lamp, startling Dipper for a moment. The shadow stepped back and bumped into the bookcase, knocking over one of the books, which fell at his feet. It was Mabel’s old copy of Alice in Wonderland. The shadow looked down and then back up, mildly nervous.

Dipper frowned and looked at the book, then up where the shadow stood. He couldn’t see what was there, but he almost felt as if something was there.

The shadow gazed into Dipper’s brown eyes with it’s glowing white eyes and was tempted to knock another book off the shelf just so Dipper would look in his direction longer.

Dipper got up and turned away from the shadow, “I need to sleep. I’m getting paranoid.” He climbed back into bed, neglecting turning off his desk lamp. The brunette wrapped himself among his blankets, trying to force himself to fall asleep.

The shadow waited until he heard soft snores coming from the teen before it picked up the copy of Alice in Wonderland and put it in it’s rightful place. It then put the journal away as well, and carefully turned off Dipper’s lamp. Just as he was about to leave, he stopped at Dipper’s bed again.

Dipper slept soundly for the first time since he came to Gravity Falls, and hopefully would continue to sleep like that. The shadow reached out again, to brush some of his hair away from his face before he stopped.

“I might wake him up again…”

The shadow pulled his hand away and left his room, leaving Dipper to a long awaited rest.

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

“There you are, Beast! I was starting to think you abandoned me!” Bill approached his only friend, “Where were you?”

“Oh, just out and about. visiting a wayward soul,” it mused, “I was also testing my theory.”

“What theory?” Bill looked confused, “And who were you seeing?”

“No one that you need to concern yourself with,” the Beast wasn’t quite sure that he could fully trust this version of Bill Cipher just yet,  “But my theory is of mild concern to both of us.”

The dream demon changed colors into a shade of light purple, “Go on.”

“Despite not being able to crossover into the adjacent dimension, I can still affect it.” The  Beast glanced back at the Mystery Shack, “Therefore, I’d rather not perform large spells before I can figure out how to make a deal with someone.”

“We still need to figure out how you can be summoned. It’s like an invitation that doesn’t expire for quite some time, as long as the person who summoned you is still alive, and didn’t dismiss you, you can still pass into the other dimension.” Bill scratched under his eye in thought, turning back to his signature blue, “However, I’ve never been here and from what I can tell, I could pass through both dimensions easily if I had any magic.”

“That’s because you, or this dimension’s version of you was summoned a few years ago.” The Beast delve into his memory of the incident, he had watched the events unfold from behind the trees. There was a lot of hardship that was endured back then.

“Do you think I could convince someone to summon you once I get enough energy back?” Bill might have turned yellow if that wasn’t just a small glimmer of hope.

“Well…” The Beast let out a sigh, “Things wouldn’t go well if you talked to people here.”

Bill flashed purple again, “Would the twins come after me like they did before, in my dimension?”

“Yes‒I mean, no‒well, sort of,” The Beast took a moment to gather his words, “They don’t like you in this dimension because you did some rather terrible things, you see…”

“Oh,” Bill turned blue once more and slowly floated to the ground, “I’m not nice here, am I?”

“Not really,” The Beast knelt down to his companion, placing the lantern on the forest floor, but not letting it go for a second, “This Bill did a lot of terrible things to many people.”

Bill sniffled, “It wasn’t me though, it was him.”

“As long as you look like him and have the same identity, they’ll think you’re him.”

Bill wiped his tears, “Then I won’t be Bill Cipher anymore.”

The Beast looked from Bill to himself and held out his hand, a ball of blue and yellow light forming in it, the center glowed a hot pink, “If you want to travel to the other dimension you’ll need some of my magic, especially if you intend on obtaining a physical form.”

Bill reached out and grasped the sphere, absorbing it into his tiny body. Suddenly, the magic became his and his spiritual presence was strong enough that it made an impact in the adjacent dimension, as well as being detectable to those who existed in others. “All this p͜o͘w͞e̸r.̧..̕”

“You can handle it?” The Beast asked, bringing his lantern closer to him.

“I̛ ́féel ͠abs͟o̶l̛ut͟ely fánt͜a͏s̸t̡ìc.̵” Bill held out his hands, blue fire swirling in his palms, “I͜ f̷e͜e̴l al̵mo҉st̵ alive!” He looked up at the Beast with the utmost respect, “Tha̷n͡k you.̶”

“While you’re in a physical form I think I should still be able to communicate with you through telepathic means, as long as you keep your mind open. If I can’t communicate with you directly mentally, you’ll have to come back to the Mindscape frequently,” The Beast looked down at the lantern once again, “While in this form you also should be able to stay hidden, as long as you don’t use too much magic as well.”

“R̨i͜g̵h̨t,” Bill clenched his small hands into fists, “Í ́ho̴pe̷ ̡t͟hi̢s̡ w͘o͏rk͡s.”

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

Bill took in a deep breath as he appeared in the other dimension. The entire world was full of color and the air was warm. He fell to his new knees on the road, clutching at his chest, an intense thumping coming from it, beating the inside of his brand new rib cage. “What’s happening, what’s going on?” he thought to himself, gasping, trying to figure out how to breathe. He hadn’t had a human form in years, he could barely remember what it was like‒had he ever actually had a body?

Beast’s voice echoed in his mind, “Bill, calm down, you need to breathe.”

“I can’t! I don’t know how!” he thought frantically, coughing and gasping as he crumpled onto the road, his long white hair falling in front of his face.

Despite nothing being there he could feel a warm hand on his chest, forcing him to lay on his back. What was going on? Who was this?

“Ssssh… Don’t focus on anything else but me. Just breathe and ignore everything else,” Beast’s voice was oddly soothing. It became obvious to Bill that it was Beast who was touching him.

After minutes of lying on the road, Bill was able to start breathing and the odd feeling in his chest was starting to feel normal. He sat up and opened his eyes again looking out into the world.

“What do you see?” Beast asked him.

“It’s just like the Mindscape but more colorful and beautiful,” Bill said out loud. He started to recall that this was the same sort of beauty he saw on his version of the town.

Suddenly, a car came barreling down the road, obviously not seeing Bill until the very last second. Bill turned around as the driver slammed on the breaks, his eyes widening as the bumper approached his body. In a matter of moments Bill was on the ground, blood oozing from the back of his head, and completely unconscious.

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

Tristan got out of the car immediately, his phone in his hand. “Shit, shit, shit!” He had no cellular service. He just hit a poor old man on the road and he couldn’t call for help. He ran his hands through his pink hair, throwing his phone back into his old pickup. He approached his victim and knelt down, trying to examine the body without moving anything.

The victim wasn’t an old man, in fact, he was a young man, despite the stark white hair. He had a strange birthmark on his forehead, a sort of crescent moon shape with four lines coming out of it. His skin was a light brown and he had small freckles that were sprinkled across his cheeks and nose. He was wearing a now bloodstained white button up shirt that extended all the way to his ankles. He looked peaceful, almost angelic, and if it weren’t for all the blood, it would look like he was merely sleeping. The man’s brown eyes fluttered open, tears immediately coming from them.

“Oh my god, are you alright?” Tristan asked, looking down and completely panicked, “Can you speak? How’s your head? Oh my god, there’s so much blood…”

The man took in a shaky breath, feeling an intense pain coming from the back of his head. As he sat up, he couldn’t respond more than shaking his head and shuttering, his hands immediately reaching to his injury. “It hurts, it hurts so much…” He couldn’t hold in his feelings anymore and immediately started to cry.

“Oh my god, oh god, why are you crying? Well, I mean‒shit, are you okay?” Tristan put his hand on the man’s shoulder.

Another car came slowly down the opposite side of the road, an old Volkswagen. It stopped as the driver, Mabel Pines, saw what was happening and she got out immediately, “Dipper, get the first-aid kit!” She ran over to them, “What happened? Is he alright?”

Tristan looked frantically at Mabel, “I didn’t mean to hit him, he was just in the middle of the road!”

Bill couldn’t respond, he just continued sobbing, leaning on Tristan as he did so. He mentally called out to Beast but there was no answer.

Dipper slammed the trunk closed before running over with the first-aid kit. It was well equipped, just in case any of their adventures went south. “Is it just is head or is he hurt anywhere else?” Dipper remained calm, only slightly fazed by the blood.

“I think it’s just his head,” Tristan responded shakily, “I don’t have a signal so I can’t call the ambulance out here.”

Mabel put her hand on the Bill’s shoulder, “He can sit up, so I don’t think he’s injured too badly. We could probably bring him back to the Mystery Shack and call the hospital from there.”

Dipper shook his head, “He might have a concussion, I don’t want to risk him falling asleep on the way there.

Tristan ran his hands through his hair, “What are we going to do? What am I going to do? Shit, Tambry is going to kill me!”

Bill sniffled as the pain faded quickly, trying to speak through his tears, “I’ll be fine, it’s okay.” Even though the Beast said these twins were good, he didn’t trust them. He had to get away from them.

“No, you need a doctor,” Dipper replied, opening the first-aid kit, “And until we can get you to one, I’m the next best thing. Mabel drive back to the shack and call an ambulance. Also, tell Grunkle Stan what happened.”

“Alright!” Mabel got up and ran back to the car, turning around and speeding down the road.

Dipper looked at his patient as he shuffled through the kit, trying to distract him from the pain, “Can you tell me your name?”

Bill thought for a moment. He can’t tell them his real name. The Beast told him not to tell. “Will, my name is Will.”

Tristan joined in at trying to distract him, “Do you have a last name?”

Will gulped, he certainly didn’t have one he could outright tell them, “Caesar.”

Dipper pulled out a couple of tools from the kit and started searching through Will’s hair to try and find the injury, “How old are you, Will?”

He couldn’t just tell them he was centuries, no eons old. “I… I don’t know.” Tears started brimming in his eyes again, fearing that they would repeat the same treachery from the other dimension.

“Ssssh… it’s okay. You’ll be fine, Will.” Dipper searched his head for any injury but he couldn’t find anything. “Where’s the wound?”

“I’m so sorry,” Tristan rubbed his eyes, “I should have been paying more attention.”

Will sniffled, “No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have been standing in the middle of the road.” He looked back to where Dipper was, “How bad do I look?”

Dipper pulled back, “Fine actually. You’re perfectly fine.” He was completely dumbfounded. Something was strange about this guy, he could tell instantly.

“How can he be fine? I hit him with my car. He was bleeding!” Tristan stood up, “How did he even survive this?”

The Volkswagen came back and out popped Mabel and Grunkle Stan, “We don’t have any power at the Mystery Shack, evidently power is out all over town.”

“How’s the kid?” Stan got out of the car, also carrying a first-aid kit.

“He’s fine,” Dipper looked back at them, then to Will, “He’s completely uninjured.”

Will felt everyone’s gaze on him and curled up into a ball, pulling his knees to his chest. They would find out. It would be just like in his dimension. These twins were the same in his dimension. They had powers, they would use them and take whatever he had left.

“Dipper, that’s not possible!” Mabel got out of the car and ran over, “He’s covered in blood!”

“Do you want to check his head? I couldn’t find anything.” Dipper packed up his kit.

Stan looked at Will and leaned down in front of him, “What’s your name kid?”

“Will Caesar….” Will looked up at Stan nervously.

“Well, Will we’re going to bring you back to the Mystery Shack.” Stan brushed some of Will’s overgrown hair out of his face, revealing the strange marking on his forehead, “It’s not safe in the middle of these woods.” Stan knew that something was off about him, “Do you think you can stand?”

Will nodded and stood up, he had to find some form of shelter, but he had to be wary around them. He hoped Beast would speak to him soon…

Tristan backed up to his car, “I’m, uh, going to go home.” This was weird, this was all really weird.

“If something ends up being wrong with him we’re reporting it to the police,” Dipper told Tristan.

“Right, yeah. That makes sense,” Tristan responded. “Sorry for hitting you with my car.”

Will rubbed his eyes, clearing the last of his tears, “It’s alright.”

Tristan nodded awkwardly and climbed into his pickup, driving away quickly but carefully. Most importantly, this time he wasn’t using his phone.

The Pines also left the scene with Will in the back seat. Dipper sat with him, studying him as Mabel drove home and talked to Stan. Not only was the man not truly fazed by his accident, he seemed completely fascinated with the forest as if he’d never seen it before. In fact, despite appearing at least fifteen, he had this youthful innocence about him that wasn’t normal at all. Stark white hair, possibly invincibility, not to mention the marking on his forehead. It could be a birthmark but there was something odd about it, almost like it was a closed eye.

Will was a little creeped out by Dipper’s staring, though he tried to ignore it. He gazed out the car window rather than looking at the brother, quickly finding interest in the world outside. He was so fascinated with the world while simultaneously terrified and regretting going. He had to run away and make sure the evil twins never found him. He couldn’t be there slave any longer. And was the Beast right about these twins? Could they be trusted? Unfortunately, his top priority now was getting into contact with Beast again. Will closed his eyes, hoping that they could reconnect in the Mindscape that way. If he could reach out and speak to the Beast…

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

“Beast? Beast, where are you?” Will was in the Mindscape once again, his true form as the blue triangle present instead of the body he had created. “Beast, why aren’t you talking to me?”

The wind howled and suddenly the shadow was in front of Will, “You have to get out of here now!”

“What, why?” Will squeaked, “Beast, I got hurt and now people are taking me‒”

“Get out of here before he sees you!” The Beast urged him.

**"O̸ó̧o͟o͏̷̛óh͡ ̴͝҉B̴̀e̸̴͜a͡͞s̛t̨͜!̴̢͢ W͞h͘̕e͘r̸͝e̷ ̢̀a̶͢͝r͜͏e̴̕͠ ̀y̸̸ơư͜?͜"** a certain yellow dream demon called out in a sing-song voice.

Will’s eye widened, “Beast, who is that?”

The shadow grabbed Will roughly, “Yo͢u͟ ̷ha̴ve t͞o͏ wa̧k͝e͘ up!”

**  
**~ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ~**  
  
**

Just as soon as Will had fallen asleep he woke up abruptly with a loud gasp. He was still in the car with the Pines. Dipper’s hand was on his shoulder, he had evidently attempted to wake him at the same time the Beast had.

“Are you okay?” Dipper asked, “You fell asleep.”

Will clutched at his chest and breathed heavily, tears started pooling in his eyes again, and he buried his face in his hands.

“What?” Dipper asked, “Will, are you okay?”

Will started sobbing again, muttering to himself.

Stan looked back at Will and then to Dipper, “What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell,” Dipper looked perplexed.

Will pulled his legs up again in his seat and rocked himself a little as he sobbed.

Dipper looked at him sympathetically and put his hand on Will’s back.

  
Will sniffled and rubbed his eyes, his bottom lip trembling. He leaned against Dipper and looked out the window. What was going to happen to the Beast?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter came out later on Friday! Usually I'll post my stuff midday Thursday to midday Friday but this whole week just escaped me! Thanks to SpyroForLife for helping me decide on the nicknames for the reverse twins! Also thanks to mad_penn and IlanaNight for being my beta readers. Also, as a sidenote, I felt this chapter’s quality was a bit weaker than the previous two, mainly because I combined two baby chapters. More Gideon to come next chapter and hopefully more subplot development. Please comment and give kudos if you like it. Or just comment about how much you don’t like it if you want. Feedback is nice even if it’s criticism. 
> 
> I ALSO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU READERS! I've been keeping ships out of this so far, but as I was writing the scene between Dipper and The Beast I felt some serious one-sided attraction going on (hopefully y'all did as well heheh). If I were to incorporate ships, are there any in particular y'all would like? (Pssst, this is when you would comment *wink wink*)


	4. Notice

**UPDATE NOTICE:**

**NEXT UPDATE IS COMING NEXT WEEK EVERYONE, BUT I HAVE GOOD REASONS!**

1\. I'm going to a convention this weekend.

2\. I want to make sure the next update is longer, mainly because of news in number three.

3\. I KIND OF STARTED WRITING ANOTHER FIC AND I MIGHT DO WEEKLY UPDATES WERE I SWITCH BETWEEN THE TWO FICS SO I DON'T EXHAUST MYSELF.

4\. I am still very passionate about this fic, but for now the other one has my attention since it's still in the birthing stages.

5\. I still need to figure out my full intentions with this fic, since I've only really gotten one comment, I haven't had a lot of second opinions, which for a fic this massive (well, it's gonna get big, the bonus chapter I'm writing is going to breach 10,000 words soon), is kind of a big deal.

 

Anyway, I'm going to use this weekend for convention stuff and writing both fics. If this fic doesn't receive an update between September 10-11, don't panic, that probably means I got far enough with the other that I posted that one instead and that you can for sure expect an extra long chapter the following week as a plead for forgiveness. Sorry about this, I feel really bad but I honestly want to make sure this fic is successful and for that to happen I need the motivation or feedback so yeah. Again, really sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter done. Awesome. Chapters will be posted weekly every Thursday or Friday unless otherwise noted. I've included a character from Over the Garden Wall if it wasn't super obvious, but you won't have needed to see it in order to read this since I'm doing major canon divergence. I'll tag this with Over the Garden Wall depending on whether he becomes a super major character. Well, thanks for reading and please comment with your thoughts whether they are good or bad, I really need the motivation in order to keep writing this. I have two additional chapters written that I'm editing, along with a special 10.000+ word chapter that I'm still writing.
> 
> Thanks to mad_penn and Ilananight for being my beta readers. See y'all soon!


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